History and evolution of shoulder arthroscopy

The invention of the incandescent light bulb by Edison in 1879, led to the introduction of the laparo-thoracoscope in 1910. Attempts were made to use this device in the knee joint as well. Development of the arthroscope really took off after the introduction of “cold-light” and rod lens optical system by Hopkins in 1960. Kenji Takagi and later Masaki Watanabe get the credit for developing the modern form of arthroscopy. The spillover of knee arthroscopy into the shoulder was inevitable and began in 1980’s. Shoulder arthroscopy started with instability repair, followed by subacromial decompression. Through the 1980’s and 1990’s, with the development in biotechnology, more sophisticated tools and anchors became available leading to refinement of instability repair procedures. The 2000’s saw improvement in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair techniques including the double- row and trans-osseous equivalent. The last decade has witnessed the development of more complex arthroscopic procedures such as Latarjet and Superior Capsule Reconstruction. However, arthroscopic surgery continues to be equipment intensive and we need to remind ourselves that the arthroscope is no “magic wand” and good clinical evaluation continues to prevail.